I'm tired tonight, but I'm also home by myself and have inherited the trait from my mother where I will stay up until I can no longer see straight so that I might fall into bed so completely exhausted that I won't have a moment to worry about falling asleep. Tonight I took some NyQuil, so hopefully that moment will come sooner that usual.
My thoughts are sort of a jumble right now, but I really want to get in the habit of posting fairly regularly, so here I am. It's been a long day at work...actually, it's been a long week at work, with an event coming up on Monday. That tends to mean that the hours fill up far more quickly than normal, so I have less time and more to do. And sometimes I find myself staring at my computer screening just trying to collect my thoughts long enough to get a decent "To Do" list created so I don't miss any of the important details. By the time I'm able to get a couple crossed off, I've added 4 more, and so it goes. But the best part about working in event planning is that once the event is over, I get to cross everything off (even the things that didn't get done) and start over!
In all of this though, I find myself often becoming overwhelmed by the details of work - and of life - and missing the big picture in the process. I get worried about a seating chart and forget that an incredible musician is going to be honored for a lifetime of of allowing God to use them. Likewise, I get worried about getting my apartment picked up and the laundry done and forget about the whole reason why I'm having guests over anyway - to be the hands and feet of Christ. I've been doing a Bible study right now that's been just incredible, and in it I've been reminded a lot lately that peace & joy come from abiding in Christ AND allowing Christ to abide in me. There is so much rest in that! And so I am learning that whether I am overwhelmed by the details of an event, or just the details of life, if I can truly learn to abide in Christ, my perspective begins to change. When I allow God's Word to abide in me, by thoughts and my words change - "For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45). Oh, how I long to have God's Word abide in me do deeply that my thoughts and my words become like His own!
I think that's about all for tonight - the NyQuil is starting to work its magic. Thanks for wrestling through these thoughts with me. Maybe I'll write a fun story like my dear sister sometime soon (you should check her blog out at http://kelseylynae.blogspot.com/). Sweet dreams!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Happy or Joyful?
Recently Dan & I have been talking a lot about the differences between happiness and joy - and we've come to decide there are quite a few. The Bible doesn't have a whole lot to say about being happy, but it certainly mentions joy on numerous occasions. "Consider it pure JOY, my brothers, when you face trials..." "Complete my JOY by being of the same mind..." "Restore to me the JOY of your salvation..."Shout for JOY to God, all the earth...," and of course "Love, JOY, peace, goodness, kindness, patience, faithfullness, gentleness, and self-control."
What is it about joy that God wanted to make sure that we didn't miss? And does this mean that the pursuit of happiness is a bad thing? You could even go so far as to ask does God not want us to be happy? I'm beginning to realize, however, that when I focus on the happiness part, I miss the whole point. I think God truly wants us to be happy - to rejoice in Him - but He also knows how fleeting these feelings of happiness will be if we do not also have a deep and abiding joy which accompanies it. There is a peace and contentment that always goes along with joy, and that's the part we really don't want to miss out on! It's that abiding thing that sustains us when we have good reason not to be happy - but our joy can remain.
All of us are searching for something, whether we know the Lord or not. Now, I'm clearly no professional on the issue, but sometimes I wonder if this depression that is so rampant in our culture today isn't somehow attributed to the pursuit of happiness, a cheap and disappointing counterfeit for the pursuit of true joy. I certainly do not mean to make light of the issue of depression - I realize that there are so many different elements and I don't pretend to understand them all. All I'm saying is that I wonder how often we settle for something far less than what the Lord really wants to give us. Christ Jesus himself said this, "As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love....These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full." (John 15:9-11)
Let me end with these words from someone much more intelligent than myself - Charles Spurgeon said this: ...It is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon Him for the music. O Thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Just some food for thought - something that's been rolling around in my head lately. Wish I had a beautiful picture to go with it...but I guess the oreo at the top of the page might bring joy to some :)
What is it about joy that God wanted to make sure that we didn't miss? And does this mean that the pursuit of happiness is a bad thing? You could even go so far as to ask does God not want us to be happy? I'm beginning to realize, however, that when I focus on the happiness part, I miss the whole point. I think God truly wants us to be happy - to rejoice in Him - but He also knows how fleeting these feelings of happiness will be if we do not also have a deep and abiding joy which accompanies it. There is a peace and contentment that always goes along with joy, and that's the part we really don't want to miss out on! It's that abiding thing that sustains us when we have good reason not to be happy - but our joy can remain.
All of us are searching for something, whether we know the Lord or not. Now, I'm clearly no professional on the issue, but sometimes I wonder if this depression that is so rampant in our culture today isn't somehow attributed to the pursuit of happiness, a cheap and disappointing counterfeit for the pursuit of true joy. I certainly do not mean to make light of the issue of depression - I realize that there are so many different elements and I don't pretend to understand them all. All I'm saying is that I wonder how often we settle for something far less than what the Lord really wants to give us. Christ Jesus himself said this, "As the father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love....These things I have spoken to you, that my JOY may be in you, and that your JOY may be full." (John 15:9-11)
Let me end with these words from someone much more intelligent than myself - Charles Spurgeon said this: ...It is not in man's power to sing when all is adverse, unless an altar-coal shall touch his lip. It was a divine song, which Habakkuk sang, when in the night he said, "Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." Then, since our Maker gives songs in the night, let us wait upon Him for the music. O Thou chief musician, let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
Just some food for thought - something that's been rolling around in my head lately. Wish I had a beautiful picture to go with it...but I guess the oreo at the top of the page might bring joy to some :)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Is it Friday yet?
Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you could have just played hooky from life for a little while? I can't say that anything terrible really happened, but just lots of little frustrations added up to one stressful day. Take lunch for instance...if you've ever tried to park an extra-long truck in an extra-compact parking spot while 15 cars line up behind you to watch you make a fool of yourself, you might have some idea of what I experienced. Tack on the fact that all I really needed to do was run in, pick up my order I called in hours ahead of time, and head back to my meeting (yes...an all day meeting), and then top it off with thousands (okay, now I might be exaggerating) of college students wandering in front and behind my vehicle while I'm trying to pull out into noon-hour traffic. Did I mention I drive an extra-long truck in the city? You'd think I was from the country or something! I think I'm going to bring my lunch to work tomorrow.
I must give some points to my husband though, who has increased the quality of my day tremendously. When I asked what he wanted for supper, his response was "Mexican." I'll brave any city traffic for that - thanks Dan! With a nice fully belly, I feel much more capable of conquering my next task...as long as it does not involve a parking battle.
I must give some points to my husband though, who has increased the quality of my day tremendously. When I asked what he wanted for supper, his response was "Mexican." I'll brave any city traffic for that - thanks Dan! With a nice fully belly, I feel much more capable of conquering my next task...as long as it does not involve a parking battle.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Entering the New World
Obviously this is my first attempt at an official blog - yeah, I know...welcome to the 21st century, huh? I've decided this might be a good way to keep my family and friends up to date on my life, and honostly, it just seems like it might be fun! So forgive my ignorance as I get started on this - hopefully it will get a bit more interesting as I go. Here goes nothing!
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